Monday, October 27, 2008

Internet Safety For Teenagers



Internet Safety For Teenagers

By Sam Dunbar


The period when the child becomes an adolescent is an irksome one because it is then when the children start to transform and become more interested in the world.


Therefore, the body and their mentality are all changing and it is sometimes extremely difficult for them to adapt properly.


They need constant reassurance, support and communication and thus, when they cannot retort to their parents, they look for some online company.


The threats teenagers can encounter are countless on the internet because once they start doing research for their school projects online, nothings will be able to restrict their internet hours and access to different sites.


Unless parent take a pro active stance and manage to block the access to some malicious sites your children will be at risk.


For instance, teenagers might want to play games online, use instant messaging, email people or visit all kinds of popular sites.


They might want to get to have online friends and communicate with them through the various means on the Internet.


Therefore, you must make sure as a parent that they only access the trustful sites and not other things.


The following are some safety tips you might want to consider applying.


Set up rules the child has to adhere to. Discuss the hours when the child is allowed to receive internet access and make sure that you are in close vicinity so that you can always show up and make sure the child stays on the right track.


Teach your children how to make use of the Internet access and show them how to access trustworthy pages and thus, they will not wander around the internet searching for things they aren't supposed to access.


The connection to the Internet can be kept in a place the children don't have easy access to. A security setting might also be fitted to the computer to ensure that the children don't wander around and access the Internet through a mistake.


Make sure you let them know that there are some evil people lurking around the internet, willing to ensnare naive children into online traps.


Things about pornographic websites should be included in your discussion with the children.


Also, it is vitally important to not let slip any personal information perpetrators could use in the detriment of yourself and of the children, therefore make sure your children understand the extreme importance of this aspect.


Let them know that spam messages and adware should be ignored and that no emails received from strangers should be opened.


Chatting to strangers on the internet also poses a certain risk and therefore, you need to safeguard the privacy of your personal information